These two pictures will illustrate how feeding axastanthin (sp?) can bring out the red in your discus.

This first shot is a recent picture of a pb male fed only cbw, ONF 1 flake and color bits.
CArol :heart1:

Carol_Roberts

11-22-2002, 03:53 AM

Old shot, same fish color fed. See all the red?
CArol :heart1:

Ivan

11-22-2002, 12:17 PM

nice wall paper!!lol :D
oh and fish.
Ivan

allan_mark76

11-22-2002, 08:03 PM

Carol_Roberts I was wondering where did you get the axastanthin and how did you administer it in your feeding. I'm new to axastanthin so I'm totally clueless.... BTW very nice vibrant colors in the pixs... also the wallpaper :o

Thanks.

A-

Ivan

11-22-2002, 08:46 PM

Spirulina is a good source, add 1 to 2 table spoons per 2lb of beef heart.HTH

Carol_Roberts

11-22-2002, 11:41 PM

I got it from Ray at Discus Hawaii. It's a red powder you mix in food like beefheart. I don't feed beefheart anymore. I have nothing against colorfeeding. I just like how clean my tanks stay feeding cbw instead of beefheart.

CArol :heart1:

Debo

11-24-2002, 10:40 AM

Does paparika have the same effect as astaxanthan ? Carrol what do mix yours in if you don't use beef heart any more?
DebO

Carol_Roberts

11-24-2002, 01:54 PM

Paprika has some effect, but not as much as axastanthin. I don't feed it anymore.

The ONF1 flake and tetra bits I do feed have a little red. All my fish just have their natural colors right now.

I use a product called NaturaRose &amp; Sprilapowder I add 2 teaspoons of each to about 4lbs of beefheart mixture. The best way to add it to the beefheart mixture is. Mix the powders with a little hot water and then pour into beefheart mixture while making. If anyone wants any of eather powder E-mail me or privite message me and I'll sell you some in 2 ounce packages. I bought both in 1lb packs as that was the only way I could order it lol, I now have enuff to last me 5 years or more lol :)

DenverDan

12-01-2002, 12:47 AM

Hi All -

I use Nutrarose in my CBW, rinse worms as normal, take a plastic fork, scoop some into a glass container and pour the powder right on top of the worms. Stir (and very important) feed in a worm feeder.

The only down side is some of the powder will wash off the worms, and cause a slight red haze for a couple of minutes,( much less will wash off if you use a worm feeder) sometimes the fish will for lack of better word inhale the excess powder, the rest filter or siphon will take care of.

No problems so far, have been feeding like this for about 4 months now. It makes a big difference in red base Discus Hope this helps.

DenverDan

brewmaster15

12-01-2002, 02:32 PM

Jehmco.com sells the powder in small quantities as well!
hth,
-al

12-01-2002, 02:51 PM

If You guys + gals are looking for the best color feed ever
check out this site below its called carophyll pink. they also make red,blue,yellow,orange,
Am told pink is better for red fish.

This is what all Good asain Breeders use on red discus And spotted. From what I hear it is very stronger and longer lasting then the other products out!

Its very hard to get in the states and mine should arrive from singapore Mon. I will be trying it out to see how it works.
from the links I have read They tell me thats its used on farm raised salmon,flamingos+ other exotic birds.

http://www.roche.com/vitamins/pdf/caropink.pdf
HTH
TakeCare,
Cary

Per

12-05-2002, 07:17 PM

Cary,

Carophyll Pink contains astaxanthin just as do NatuRose, the difference is that it is synthetic. NatuRose get the astaxanthin from the algae Haematococcus pluvialis. A big proportion of natural astaxanthin is esterified, which is the form that is most easily taken up by the pigment cells in the skin of the fish. It also contains another carotenoid, canthaxanthin, which also contribute to the red color (but I'm not sure if canthaxanthin add to or substitute some of the effect of astaxanthin).

Synthetic asta. is not esterified, and is the form that is best retained in the flesh (did I hear some people talking about red flesh in Asian discus?). This is maybe one of the reasons why Carophyll Pink is preferred in the salmon and trout feed industry. It is probaly also the cheapest source of astaxanthin. Astaxanthin makes about 10%(!) of the costs in salmon-feed, and I'm sure the producers would have switched source if there was a cheaper one (or more likely, Roche would have lowered the price on Carophyll Pink. They have monopoly on producing synthetic asta., and they make a HUGE profit on it).

Anyway, in both Carophyll Pink and NatuRose, astaxanthin is the pigment that our discus can use (and that they also need, to a certain degree). I have tried both in my discus feeds, whith very good results. I'm not able, though, to say that one source was better than the other.

Per

Ralph

12-06-2002, 12:40 AM

Hi Per,
How do get the stuff into your fish? Are they both in powder form and do you mix it in with your BH? What if you don't use BH?
Great post though.
Also, where did you buy both products?
Thanks

shamsoo

12-06-2002, 03:41 AM

www.brineshrimpdirect.com also sells astaxanthin and nutrarose powder check it out

Ivan

12-06-2002, 07:54 PM

Exactly the same thing in the spirulina powder! Astaxanthin.

Per

12-07-2002, 05:52 PM

Ralph,

Both Carophyll Pink and NatuRose are dry powders, and I just mix them in my beefheart/shrimp feed (home-made). Next time I use NatuRose I will mix it with hot water before using it, to break up the though cell walls and release more asta. People on this board (sorry, don't remember who came up with this good idea) has reported better effect when they do so.

Got the NatuRose from brineshrimpdirect.com (http://brineshrimpdirect.com) and the Carophyll Pink from a friend (he got some when he attended a university course in fish nutrition). I don't know how easy it is to buy a small amount of the latter from a commercial source. Somone here probably knows.

Per

jouniv

12-09-2002, 12:47 AM

I don't know about US but you can tell by adds in German magazines that small companies in aquarium feed business sell both asta and canta to hobbyists.